Professor Ramaswamy Govindan, of Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, USA, who worked on two of the studies, said that the research gives scientists ‘a penthouse panoramic view’ of lung cancer, whereas before they had been only ‘looking through a keyhole’.

The papers – the first in an expected wave of ‘cataloguing studies’ – reveal a complex series of genetic changes across the genome, and identify lung cancer as a highly diverse or ‘heterogenous’ disease. New mutations discovered include those that allow tumours unrestricted growth, or that enable them to evade the body’s immune responses. Other mutations have been unearthed in genes involved in DNA repair mechanisms.

]]>https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/new-genetic-studies-opening-up-new-paths-for-lung-cancer-research/feed/0lymphomactivistHealth Insurance Companies Not Always on Your Sidehttps://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/health-insurance-companies-not-always-on-your-side/
https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/health-insurance-companies-not-always-on-your-side/#respondFri, 07 Sep 2012 16:21:56 +0000http://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/?p=1047I don’t know where you stand on Obamacare and all that, and I don’t really want to know or even to get into it. But this story is a reminder that we all need to stay vigilant when it comes to our health care and our insurance.

Now, I don’t mean to get too dramatic with the title of this post, and I don’t mean to say that insurance companies are against you. It’s just that they’re looking out for themselves and their own bottom lines. The article in question is about a Vermont state representative undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and his insurance provider declining to pay for some of his treatments because they weren’t sure they were necessary. Even though his oncologist had ordered them! This man was able to call the chairman of the state house’s health committee, who was able to call the chief lobbyist of the insurance provider, who was presumably able to call someone at the company, who was able to take care of the payment for service.

But it shouldn’t have to come to all that, should it have? And the state rep. rightly points out that people who don’t have his connections would’ve been out of luck. I don’t know what the answer is, but there’s got to be some better way than this.

]]>https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/health-insurance-companies-not-always-on-your-side/feed/0lymphomactivistNew Study Suggests GMOs Damage Organshttps://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/1043/
https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/1043/#respondWed, 05 Sep 2012 18:53:43 +0000http://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/?p=1043This is interesting and potentially scary. New research indicates genetically modified food can damage the internal organs of rats. In a finding directly contradicting what companies like Monsanto have said, this research definitely gives one pause about the entire industry.

Says the study’s author:

“Our study contradicts Monsanto conclusions because Monsanto systematically neglects significant health effects in mammals that are different in males and females eating GMOs, or not proportional to the dose. This is a very serious mistake, dramatic for public health. This is the major conclusion revealed by our work, the only careful reanalysis of Monsanto crude statistical data.”

]]>https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/1043/feed/0lymphomactivistHow a Proton Accelerator Can Help Fight Cancerhttps://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/how-a-proton-accelerator-can-help-fight-cancer/
https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/how-a-proton-accelerator-can-help-fight-cancer/#respondFri, 31 Aug 2012 05:36:52 +0000http://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/?p=1039I don’t even really know what a proton accelerator is, but a doctor in St. Louis does, and he’s hoping to use one to get rid of tumors.

With traditional therapies like X-ray, a patient’s healthy tissues are often hit by radiation. This machine is so precise that doctors can hit tumors with higher doses–without damaging surrounding organs.

“For a tumor that’s near the eye, you don’t want to spray it with excess radiation,” said Dr. Bradley.

Until now, proton beam facilities in the United States would cost more than 150 million dollars and require the space of a football field. This machine cost 75 percent less and fits into a single room. While it could cost up to 20 percent more than traditional treatments, for some patients it could be worth it.

It sounds amazing, but I especially like the talk of how much smaller this one is than previous versions, when it still weighs 50 tons and takes up an entire room. It sounds so much like stuff you see about what people in the 1970s and 1980s were saying about computers that seem gargantuan to us compared to our smart phones.

]]>https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/how-a-proton-accelerator-can-help-fight-cancer/feed/0lymphomactivistJohnson & Johnson Partnering with Smaller Drug Makers to Find Breakthroughshttps://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/johnson-johnson-partnering-with-smaller-drug-makers-to-find-breakthroughs/
https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/johnson-johnson-partnering-with-smaller-drug-makers-to-find-breakthroughs/#respondThu, 23 Aug 2012 15:19:36 +0000http://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/?p=1035Johnson & Johnson is paying Pharmacyclics $50 million in what is called a milestone payment as the small drug researcher works on a new drug to combat mantel cell lymphoma, one of the more rare forms of NHL.

Apparently the drug giant is doing this thing more and more, as it allows the large company to benefit from innovation and advanced research without taking on the high risks that come with such work. It also, of course, gives funding to smaller companies in desperate need for the money. All in all, it sounds like a great plan to me.

The important thing of course, is that the research looks promising. Here’s hoping!

The two companies, which partnered up at the end of last year, are working to develop a novel kinase inhibitor known as ibrutinib as a medicine for patients who have suffered a relapse of mantel cell lymphoma, one of the rarest forms of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas or cancers of the body’s B cells.

The drug candidate is also being studied as a treatment for patients who have developed a resistence to other medicines.

…

Pharmacyclics, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., said it is eligible to receive up to $725 million more in funding as it advances work on the drug.

]]>https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/johnson-johnson-partnering-with-smaller-drug-makers-to-find-breakthroughs/feed/0lymphomactivistResearchers Discover Cause of a Type of NHLhttps://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/researchers-discover-cause-of-a-type-of-nhl/
https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/researchers-discover-cause-of-a-type-of-nhl/#respondSun, 19 Aug 2012 18:57:17 +0000http://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/?p=1032This is very good news. After all, you can’t find a cure for a disease until you know what causes it, can you? Dr. Sandrine Sander and Professor Klaus Rajewsky in Berlin have figured out the cause of Burkitt Lymphoma, an extremely fast growing form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas.

According to Dr. Sandrine Sander and Professor Klaus Rajewsky, Burkitt lymphoma originates from germinal centers of the lymphoid organs (Peyer’s patches in the small intestine, spleen and lymph nodes). The reaction by the germinal center is triggered by the B cells when antigens are detected. Once the reaction occurs, the B cells alter their DNA causing a highly specific antibody response against the antigen.

The B cell receptor (BCR) plays a vital role in the reaction process. In order to fully recognize the antigen and trigger an appropriate immune response, the DNA segments encoding the antibody must be altered and rearranged. During this complicated process, DNA breaks may occur and error-prone repair mechanisms may result in genetic mutations linked with cancer development.

Very well done. Which means that now they can get started on finding a cure for it. Let’s hope that they do.

]]>https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/researchers-discover-cause-of-a-type-of-nhl/feed/0lymphomactivistA New Project to Protect Children from NHLhttps://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/a-new-project-to-protect-children-from-nhl/
https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/a-new-project-to-protect-children-from-nhl/#commentsThu, 16 Aug 2012 14:40:50 +0000http://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/?p=1027Here’s an interesting bit of research from England. The charitable foundation Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research has funded a new research project designed to combat NHL specifically in children:

Dr Vikki Rand was awarded a prestigious ‘Bennett Fellowship’ by the charity to establish a research team at Newcastle University. They will use cutting-edge technology to scan the entire genome of an aggressive set of cancers known as B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas, in order to identify underlying genetic abnormalities within the cancer cells.

Lymphoma is the third most common cancer of children in the UK, but the clinical relevance of differences between the two main types of lymphoma, Burkitt lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, has still not been defined. Treatment is the same for both groups.

]]>https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/a-new-project-to-protect-children-from-nhl/feed/1lymphomactivistBone Marrow Transplants Growing in Use as an NHL Treatmenthttps://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/bone-marrow-transplants-growing-in-use-as-an-nhl-treatment/
https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/bone-marrow-transplants-growing-in-use-as-an-nhl-treatment/#respondTue, 14 Aug 2012 11:55:13 +0000http://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/?p=1024Here’s an interesting look at the increasing popularity of bone marrow transplants as a treatment for NHL. They were once recommended only as a last resort, but doctors have begun to perform the transplants more often recently:

The procedure of a bone marrow transplantation for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma used to be the procedure of last resort, only used after all other treatment modalities failed. This was the case because the procedure can be extraordinarily difficult to endure for the patient, and even life-threatening considering the many complications. However, the procedure is becoming more common.

]]>https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/bone-marrow-transplants-growing-in-use-as-an-nhl-treatment/feed/0lymphomactivistInteresting Interview re: Genetic Engineeringhttps://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/interesting-interview-re-genetic-engineering/
https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/interesting-interview-re-genetic-engineering/#respondThu, 09 Aug 2012 16:43:08 +0000http://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/?p=1021I haven’t really kept up much with the debate over genetically modified food and Monsanto’s dealings with the issue. But I of course know all about Monsanto’s history with manufacturing PCBs and the chemical’s connections to NHL. So I’m not predisposed to give them the benefit of the doubt.

But the Huffington Post put up an interview with a scientist who’s been working on the technology and is trying to bring some clarity to the issue. It’s good, I think, and as someone who follows the science and research in the battle against cancer, it got me thinking. The researcher is Kevin Folta and he teaches at the University of Florida. He says:

“Anytime a scientist comes out and says something positive about technology the first thing that comes is, ‘Well you must work for Monsanto.’ None of us or most of us never got a dime from Monsanto, yet we’re always accused of being on their side because we’re on the side of science.”

]]>https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/interesting-interview-re-genetic-engineering/feed/0lymphomactivistGenome Senquencing of Lymphomas Progressinghttps://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/genome-senquencing-of-lymphomas-progressing/
https://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/genome-senquencing-of-lymphomas-progressing/#commentsTue, 07 Aug 2012 15:52:43 +0000http://lymphomactivist.wordpress.com/?p=1018This is very good news, it seems to me.

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have completed the first genome-wide sequencing of peripheral T cell lymphomas, which will allow doctors to delve into this cancer of the immune system that account for 12% of all non-hodgkin’s lymphomas and are among the most deadly. Fewer than 35 percent of patients live five years beyond diagnosis. Andrew Feldman was the lead investigator and said of the breakthrough:

“Every time I diagnose a peripheral T-cell lymphoma, I know that two out of three patients will succumb to that lymphoma,” says Dr. Feldman. “That’s a very unsatisfying feeling, and I hope that our research can help change those statistics.”

How little, in fact, doctors understand about this type of cancer is summed up in the name of the most-common form of the disease:

“The most common type of T-cell lymphoma is called ‘not otherwise specified.’ It’s basically a wastebasket diagnosis because we don’t understand enough about the specific genetic abnormalities to be able to pinpoint subtypes of T-cell lymphomas that might trigger different treatments by the treating oncologist,” says Dr. Feldman.